1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical condition monitoring and, more particularly, to remote monitoring of medical conditions and locations of persons.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medical conditions are often monitored for patients while admitted at a hospital or while at a doctor's office. The monitoring can assist a doctor or other medical professional in diagnosis or treatment of a patient. Typically, a specialized monitoring machine would be placed nearby the patient and then one or more sensors would be affixed to the patient. Periodically, a doctor or other medical professional would view the data output by the specialized monitoring machine. Some medical monitoring devices are portable. These portable devices permit the patient's health to be monitored over an extended period of time. A doctor or other medical professional would view the data gathered at the next visit of the patient to a hospital or doctor's office. However, typically, these medical devices, whether stationary or portable, are special purpose devices that require professionals or trained technicians to setup and use. It is unfortunate that the use of such medical devices to monitor patients outside of a hospital or doctor's office requires professional assistance and expensive equipment. These disadvantages make it impractical for widespread use of medical monitoring systems.
Thus, there is a need for improved methods and systems to facilitate personal medical monitoring.